Recovery of upland acid grasslands after successful Pteridium aquilinum control: Long-term effectiveness of cutting, repeated herbicide treatment and bruising.

There is a clear need for the development of management strategies to control dominant, perennial weeds and restore semi-natural communities and an important part of this is to know how long control treatments take to be effective and how long they last after treatments stop. Here, we report the results from a 17-year long experiment where we compared the effects of five control treatments on dense Pteridium aquilinum (L. Kuhn) relative to an untreated experimental-control in Derbyshire, UK. The experiment was run in two phases. In Phase 1 (2005-2012) we controlled the P. aquilinum by cutting and bruising, both twice and thrice annually, and a herbicide treatment (asulam in year 1, followed by annual spot-re-treatment of all emergent fronds). In Phase 2 (2012-2021) all treatments were stopped, and the vegetation was allowed to develop naturally. Between 2005 and 2021 we monitored P. aquilinum performance annually and full plant species composition at intervals. Here, we concentrate on analysing the Phase 2 data where we used regression approaches to model individual species responses through time and unconstrained ordination to compare treatment effects on the entire species composition over both Phases. Remote sensing was also used to assess edge invasion in 2018. At the end of Phase 1, a good reduction of P. aquilinum and restoration of acid-grassland was achieved for the asulam and cutting treatments, but not for bruising. In Phase 2, P. aquilinum increased through time in all treated plots but the asulam and cutting ones maintained a much lower P. aquilinum performance for nine years on all measures assessed. There was a reduction in species richness and richness fluctuations, especially in graminoid species. However, multivariate analysis showed that the asulam and cutting treatments were stationed some distance from the untreated and bruising treatments with no apparent sign of reversions suggesting an Alternative Stable State had been created, at least over this nine-year period. P. aquilinum reinvasion was mainly from plot edges. The use of repeated P. aquilinum control treatments, either through an initial asulam spray with annual follow-up spot-spraying or cutting twice or thrice annually for eight years gave good P. aquilinum control and helped restore an acid-grassland community. Edge reinvasion was detected, and it is recommended that either whole-patch control be implemented or treatments should be continued around patch edges.

A systematic review evaluating the use of ultrasound in the identification of osteochondrosis in horses.

Osteochondrosis is commonly encountered in young horses, with welfare, performance, and economic effects. Consequently, pre-purchase radiographic screening for osteochondrosis is routinely performed. Ultrasonographic examination of articular cartilage and osteochondrosis lesions are described in the literature with many case series or single case reports published. This systematic review was undertaken to examine the evidence for using ultrasonography in comparison to traditional radiography, arthroscopy or necropsy findings in the detection of osteochondrosis. The systematic review identified a paucity of studies in which there was marked variation in the populations, sample size, methods and results reported. Currently, there is no strong evidence confirming the diagnostic accuracy and validity of ultrasonography in the detection of osteochondral lesions in the relevant joints in horses.

Using lectins to identify hidden antigens in Fasciola hepatica.

Fasciola hepatica is the causative agent of fascioliasis, one of the most economically important helminth diseases of livestock worldwide. Traditionally, fascioliasis has been controlled by the strategic use of fasciolicidal drugs, but the emergence of resistant parasites has spurred an interest in developing vaccines as an alternative means of control. Most vaccine studies to date have evaluated conventional antigens, which are exposed to the host's immune system during the course of a natural infection. 'Hidden' antigens have proven to be effective vaccine candidates in other parasite species, most notably the blood-feeding nematode parasite, Haemonchus contortus, and tend to be expressed in the intestine or gut of the parasite. Fasciola hepatica is known to ingest large quantities of blood and may be vulnerable to this approach. Most, if not all, of the candidate antigens identified thus far have been membrane-bound glycoproteins which were solubilized by detergents. Here, we have attempted to employ lectins to select gut-associated glycoproteins from complex mixtures of somatic extracts of adult F. hepatica. We have conducted a comprehensive lectin-binding screen on adult histological sections with a panel of 16 fluorescently labelled lectins. Seven of the lectins bound to molecules within the gastrodermis but also bound to a range of other tissues. Within the gut tissues, jacalin and peanut lectins bound selectively to the gut lamellae and gastrodermal cells, respectively. These lectins were then used to isolate proteins from the integral membrane protein component of the adult fluke. Both lectins showed selectivity for relatively simple subsets of proteins compared to the original crude extracts.

Kinetics of the local immune response in the gastric lymph of lambs after primary and challenge infection with Teladorsagia circumcincta.

Groups of 5-month-old lambs which had been trickle infected with Teladorsagia circumcincta for 8 weeks then drenched, and worm-free control lambs were challenged with 50 000 T. circumcincta L3s. From 10 days later fewer parasites were recovered from the previously infected sheep, and secondary cellular and humoral responses were observed in the gastric lymph. Increases in CD4+ and CD25+ T lymphoblast traffic on day 3, followed by CD21+ and IgA+ lymphoblasts on day 5, and an increase in total and parasite specific IgA concentrations peaking on day 6 were observed in previously infected lambs. Similar peaks in lymphoblast output were not observed until days 10-12 in the control lambs. This data was highly comparable with that obtained recently from yearling sheep subjected to an identical infection-challenge regime, and contrasted with that obtained from similar experiments in the 1980s when 4(1/2)-month-old previously infected lambs were more susceptible to and had much weaker immune responses to challenge than 10-month-old sheep. The fact that 40% fewer larvae were given during the trickle infection regime in the four recent trials is offered as an explanation for this difference.

Attempts to immunize sheep against Haemonchus contortus using a cocktail of recombinant proteases derived from the protective antigen, H-gal-GP.

The objective of this study was to determine whether an antigen cocktail containing recombinantly expressed versions of most of the protective proteases of H-gal-GP, a known protective antigen from Haemonchus contortus, would confer any protection to lambs in a vaccine-challenge trial. Haemonchus contortus metalloendopeptidases, MEP1, MEP3 and MEP4, were expressed as soluble recombinant proteins in insect cells, but attempts to express the H. contortus aspartyl proteases, PEP1 and PEP2, by the same techniques were not successful. Recombinant H. contortus PEP1 was therefore expressed in Escherichia coli and refolded. Groups of sheep were immunized thrice with either native H-gal-GP, a cocktail of recombinantly expressed proteins (rMEP1, rMEP3, rMEP4 and rPep1), or adjuvant only (QuilA in PBS). All sheep were challenged with 5000 infective larvae 1 week after the final vaccination. High levels of serum antibodies that recognized H-gal-GP were detected in both the native antigen and recombinant cocktail-immunized groups by the time of challenge, but protective immunity was only observed in the group immunized with native H-gal-GP.

P-glycoprotein interfering agents potentiate ivermectin susceptibility in ivermectin sensitive and resistant isolates of Teladorsagia circumcincta and Haemonchus contortus.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) homologues, belonging to the ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter family, are thought to play an important role in the resistance of gastro-intestinal nematode parasites against macrocyclic lactones. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of various P-gp interfering compounds on the efficacy of ivermectin (IVM) in sensitive and resistant nematode isolates. The feeding of IVM resistant and sensitive Teladorsagia circumcincta and Haemonchus contortus first-stage larvae (L1) was assessed using a range of IVM concentrations (0.08-40 nm) with or without P-gp inhibitors: valspodar, verapamil, quercetin, ketoconazole and pluronic P85. The P-gp inhibitors were selected on the basis of their ability to interfere with P-gp transport activity in an epithelial cell line over-expressing murine P-gp. In the presence of P-gp interfering agents, the in vitro susceptibility to IVM of both sensitive and resistant isolates of T. circumcincta and H. contortus was increased. These results show that compounds interfering with P-gp transport activity could enhance IVM efficacy in sensitive isolates, and also restore IVM sensitivity in resistant nematodes. These results support the view that ABC transporters can play an important role in resistance to IVM, at least in the free-living stages of these economically important gastro-intestinal nematodes.

Omentalisation as adjunctive treatment of an infected femoral nonunion fracture: a case report.

A three-year-old male working border collie with an infected femoral nonunion fracture was managed in a two-stage procedure involving debridement and omentalisation, followed by stabilisation with a bone plate and an autogenous cancellous bone graft. Osseous union was documented radiographically 16 weeks after surgery. Telephone follow-up one year later revealed the dog had returned to full working function without evidence of lameness. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first clinical case described in the veterinary literature using omentalisation as an adjunct to the management of an infected, biologically inactive nonunion fracture.

Fractures of the cervical vertebral odontoid in four horses and one pony.

Four horses and one pony, ranging in age from one to 11 years, were diagnosed with two different types of odontoid peg fractures. Their clinical signs included reluctance to move the neck and head, dullness, and abnormalities of gait. Radiography was essential for the diagnosis, and the method of treatment varied depending on the severity of the neurological signs, the intended use of the horse, and financial constraints. Optimal treatment requires a technique that allows decompression, anatomical alignment, and stabilisation of the odontoid fracture. If the clinical (neurological) signs are not too severe and the animal shows signs of feeling peripheral pain, conservative treatment can be applied, as is common practice in human surgery. All except the pony made a full recovery.

Right cranial lung lobe torsion after a diaphragmatic rupture repair in a Jack Russell terrier.

A seven-year-old male Jack Russell terrier was presented with a history of coughing, generalised weakness and lethargy 10 days after an abdominal coeliotomy to repair a large diaphragmatic rupture. Thoracic radiographs demonstrated a soft tissue mass in the midcaudal right thoracic cavity. Ultrasonographic studies, bronchoscopy and subsequent exploratory thoracotomy confirmed a diagnosis of a right cranial lung lobe torsion (LLT), with an anomalous caudodorsal displacement of the affected lobe. LLT should be considered as a differential diagnosis for respiratory tract disease following diaphragmatic rupture repair.

Bacterial Cholangitis, Cholecystitis, or both in Dogs.

BACKGROUND: Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis are rarely reported, poorly characterized diseases in the dog. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the clinical features of these conditions. ANIMALS: Twenty-seven client-owned dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both. METHODS: Multicenter, retrospective cases series of dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both, presenting January 2000 to June 2011 to 4 Veterinary Schools in Ireland/United Kingdom. Interrogation of hospital databases identified all cases with the inclusion criteria; histopathologically confirmed cholangitis or cholecystitis and bile culture/cytology results supporting a bacterial etiology. RESULTS: Twenty-seven dogs met the inclusion criteria with approximately 460 hepatitis cases documented over the same study period. Typical clinical pathology findings were increases in liver enzyme activities (25/26), hyperbilirubinemia (20/26), and an inflammatory leukogram (21/24). Ultrasound findings, although nonspecific, aided decision-making in 25/26 cases. The most frequent hepatobiliary bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (n = 17; 16 cases), Enterococcus spp. (n = 8; 6 cases), and Clostridium spp. (n = 5; 5 cases). Antimicrobial resistance was an important feature of aerobic isolates; 10/16 E. coli isolates resistant to 3 or more antimicrobial classes. Biliary tract rupture complicated nearly one third of cases, associated with significant mortality (4/8). Discharged dogs had a guarded to fair prognosis; 17/18 alive at 2 months, although 5/10 re-evaluated had persistent liver enzyme elevation 2-12 months later. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis occur more frequently than suggested by current literature and should be considered in dogs presenting with jaundice and fever, abdominal pain, or an inflammatory leukogram or with ultrasonographic evidence of gallbladder abnormalities.

Evidence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection (Chagas' disease) among patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND: Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas' heart disease, is transmitted by triatomine insects and by blood transfusion. The emigration of several million people from T cruzi-endemic countries to the United States has raised concerns regarding a possible increase in cases of Chagas' heart disease here, as well as an increased risk of transfusion-transmitted T cruzi. To investigate these 2 possible outcomes, we tested a repository of blood specimens from multiply transfused cardiac surgery patients for antibodies to T cruzi. METHODS AND RESULTS: Postoperative blood specimens from 11 430 cardiac surgery patients were tested by enzyme immunoassay, and if repeat-reactive, were confirmed by radioimmunoprecipitation. Six postoperative specimens (0.05%) were confirmed positive. Corresponding preoperative specimens, available for 4 of these patients, were also positive. The other 2 patients had undergone heart transplantations. Tissue samples from their excised hearts were tested for T cruzi by polymerase chain reaction and were positive. Despite the fact that several of these 6 patients had histories and clinical findings suggestive of Chagas' disease, none of them were diagnosed with or tested for it. Patient demographics showed that 5 of 6 positive patients were Hispanic, and overall, 2. 7% of Hispanic patients in the repository were positive. CONCLUSIONS: No evidence for transfusion-transmitted T cruzi was found. All 6 seropositive patients apparently were infected with T cruzi before surgery; however, a diagnosis of Chagas' disease was not known or even considered in any of these patients. Indeed, Chagas' disease may be an underdiagnosed cause of cardiac disease in the United States, particularly among patients born in countries in which T cruzi is endemic.

Acute takeoffs of the coronary arteries along the aortic wall and congenital coronary ostial valve-like ridges: association with sudden death.

Congenital coronary artery anomalies have been associated with sudden death. Twenty-two patients who were victims of sudden death (mean age 46) and who had no significant anatomic cause of death were examined at autopsy and compared with 19 patients who died of known causes (control group). The hearts of these 41 patients were examined for abnormalities of acute angle takeoff of the coronary artery and presence of ostial valve-like ridges. Of the 22 patients who died suddenly, 13 (59%) had acute angle takeoff of the coronary artery and 9 (41%) had ostial valve-like ridges. Of the 19 control subjects, 4 (21%) had acute angle takeoff and only 2 (11%) had an ostial valve-like ridge. The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.015 and 0.031, respectively). It is suggested that aortic root dilation may compress coronary arteries with acute angle takeoff and that ostial valve-like ridges may act as occlusion valves. Thus, either may cause acute obstruction of the proximal coronary artery and lead to sudden death. A very lethal combination for sudden death would be the presence of severe coronary artery disease, an acute angle takeoff and an ostial valve-like ridge.

Dissecting aortic aneurysm manifesting as acute pericarditis.

Two patients with coarctation of the aorta initially had acute idiopathic pericarditis with anterior pleuritic chest pain as the chief complaint. A pericardial friction rub was present in both patients. Both patients died suddenly. At autopsy, they were found to have a dissecting aneurysm of the ascending aorta with extension into the pericardial space; acute pericardial tamponade was the cause of death. We recommend that when a patient with coarctation of the aorta is admitted with pericarditis, aortic dissection should be considered and appropriate diagnostic procedures undertaken. In all young patients with acute pericarditis there should be careful palpation of the femoral pulses and review of the chest x-ray film for rib notching.

Oral contraceptives and stroke in young women: a clinicopathologic correlation.

Pathologic studies of women with fatal cerebrovascular disease who have received oral contraceptives are infrequently found in the literature. Three cases of this type are reported here. The pathologic findings included an intrinsic vascular lesion in the form of intimal hyperplasia with and without associated thrombosis, found in arteries supplying the brain. Similar vascular lesions have been reported previously in other sites of the vascular system in association with exogenous or endogenous steroids. They have also been found in other species under the influence of steroids. This hyperplasia of vessel intima may be found in association with other clinicopathologic entities, but stigmata of other diseases were not found in these three patients.

Nontraumatic death in joggers. A series of 30 patients at autopsy.

Since few autopsy data are available on the cause of death in joggers, 30 joggers who underwent autopsy were studied. All were males 18 to 57 years of age (mean 36 years). Information on jogging habits was available in 18 patients who ran 7 to 105 miles per week (mean 33) for one to 28 years (mean 20). Three of the 30 patients were "marathon runners." In 12 patients, the only available information was that they had been jogging for at least six months, but information regarding the distance run was not available. Sixteen patients (53 percent) had clinical histories of systemic hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and/or family histories of coronary heart disease; eight patients had a previous history of coronary heart disease; two had transient ischemic attacks. Nineteen patients died suddenly while jogging; six died suddenly after jogging; three noted chest pains soon after jogging; two were found dead in bed. The heart weights were increased in 16 (53 percent). Twenty-two patients (73 percent) had severe coronary artery atherosclerosis, six of whom had coronary artery thrombi; acute and/or healed myocardial infarction was present in 14 (47 percent). One patient had a floppy mitral valve. In seven patients, no cause of death could be established; three of these had cardia hypertrophy and six had myocytolysis. Myocytolysis was also noted in 11 patients with severe coronary atherosclerosis. Severe coronary artery atherosclerosis was the major finding (73 percent) in the 30 joggers in this series.

Intravenous pyogenic granuloma. A study of 18 cases.

A series of 18 intravenous pyogenic granulomas (IVPG) was studied. The lesions were limited to the neck and upper extremity and appeared as nonspecific tumors. Most had a clinical duration of 2 months or less. Treatment was by excision and there were no recurrences. IVPG consists of an intraluminal polyp attached to the wall of the vein by a fibrovascular stalk. The characteristic appearance is of lobules of capillaries separated by a fibromyxoid stroma. The organization and histologic detail are similar to those of pyogenic granulomas that are uncomplicated by the changes of inflammation. Our observations suggest that IVPG develops in or adjacent to the wall of the involved vein. It probably receives its blood supply from a small artery that enters the lesion in the region of the stalk.

Intrapericardial giant lymph node hyperplasia.

This report concerns a female patient aged 42 years known to have asymptomatic cardiomegaly for 2 years. She presented 2 weeks before surgery with chest pain radiating to the left arm and face. Angiography revealed a highly vascular mass in the region of the left atrium. Surgery revealed an intrapericardial tumor adherent to both atria. Histologically this proved to be giant lymph node hyperplasia, an unusual example because of its intrapericardial localization.

Comparative usefulness of tissue fixatives for in situ viral nucleic acid hybridization.

Traditionally tissues for in situ hybridization of viral nucleic acid have been small pieces obtained from laboratory rodents, and fixatives that are designed for electron microscopy, such as periodate-lysine-paraformaldehyde (PLP) can handle them adequately. However, these fixatives have limited penetrating ability and may produce no appreciable hardening, so alternative fixation methods were evaluated. The intention was to determine whether fixatives adequate for bulky tissues such as whole or halved pig and cow brains would also be compatible with in situ hybridization. Various fixatives were evaluated using a system of intracranial inoculation of BALB/c mice with pseudorabies virus (PRV) followed by in situ hybridization of brain tissue sections with a 35S-labeled PRV DNA probe. Loss of tissue sections was a major problem, particularly with PLP and formalin, but positive results were obtained with five fixatives tested. Cellular morphology was especially good with PLP and with a modification of Carnoy's fluid, MOCA fixative. An incidental but important observation was that formalin is compatible with in situ hybridization. Retroactive studies of viral diseases using routinely processed blocks of tissue (formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded) are therefore conceivable.

Congenital pulmonary atresia with tricuspid insufficiency: morphologic study.

In an anatomic study of 21 cases of pulmonary atresia with tricuspid insufficiency (pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum, type II), the morphologic features of the tricuspid valve and the right ventricle were found to differ greatly from those seen in pulmonary atresia with tricuspid stenosis (pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum, type I). Morphologically, pulmonary atresia with tricuspid insufficiency (type II) has a greater resemblance to Ebstein's disease with pulmonary atresia than to type I pulmonary atresia. The anomaly may be more amenable to surgery than pulmonary atresia with tricuspid stenosis because the right ventricle in the former may be converted into a functional chamber by a valvotomy combined with a shunting procedure and atrial septostomy.

Truncus arteriosus communis: truncal valve anomalies associated with small conal or truncal septal defects.

Selected specimens of truncus arteriosus communis illustrate a spectrum of anomalous truncoconal septation in which the conal and truncal septal defects are so closely approximated to the truncal valve that portions of the valve tissue extend along the free margins of the adjacent ventricular or truncal septum.